1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to hats, visors and caps, and more particularly to a cap having side flaps for shading the side and forward portion of the face from direct sunlight, the flaps being retractable.
2. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Pospisil, U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,733 describes a cap having an arrangement for shielding the ears of a wearer from direct sunlight by the use of a pair of generally elongate ear shades removably supported from the sides of the cap. This novel cap has head-encircling portion and crown portion as well as support devices for the ear shades. These support devices are mounted on opposite sides of the head-encircling portion, at locations generally corresponding to the temporal portions of a wearer's head. Each of the support devices is adapted for supporting one of the ear shades, with both of the ear shades being double-ended and of non-planar construction. A securing component is disposed on each end of each ear shade, adapted for engagement with the respective support device. Each ear shade, when mounted in one orientation on a respective support device, is disposed relatively close to the respective ear of the wearer, such that the ear will be shaded from the sun, whereas when mounted on the support device in an opposite orientation, the ear shade will be disposed in a position relatively close to the crown of the cap, leaving the respective ear unshaded.
Harbison, U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,343 describes an ear flap hat that is designed to be worn in both good and bad weather. The hat gives the wearer the flexibility of wearing the hat with the ear flaps down covering the wearer's ears or positioning the ear flaps in an up position on the crown of the wearer's head so that the wearer's ears are exposed. A cord and cord lock are also included with this hat so that the wearer can tighten the cap down and affix it to their head when the ear flaps are down. The cord can also be used to hold the earflaps in the up position when they are not covering the wearer's ears. When the earflaps are in the down position, covering the wearer's ears, the cord can be positioned in the back of the wearer's neck or under the wearer's chin depending on the desired tightness and the weather conditions. The hat will be less likely to fly off during gusts of high wind when the cord is positioned under the wearer's chin.
Woehl, U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,514 describes an ear shield cap suitable for shading the wearer's eyes and ears from direct exposure to the rays of the sun which may be adjustable for a number of usual head sizes without undue affect on the shading function. The cap has a visor extending from the front of the crown, a pair of ear shields extending from the sides of the crown and the rear of the crown is free of any extension and structured to adjust the cap to the head size of various wearers. The visor and ear shields are joined to provide a uniform transition from a visor to the ear shields. The cap may include a rear gore or panel in the crown of stretchable material to provide size adjustment or the rear of the crown may have a cutout which is bridged or spanned by a tab which may be an elastic band, a mating Velcro fastener or a snap fastener adjustable to variable lengths. The cap may be of the baseball cap-type construction made with materials and features permitting air circulation about the wearer's head.
Krystal, U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,903 is an adjustable cap with a back opening and a strip of adjustable length whereby the cap can be adjusted as to size that has an inband that can be stored in the head cover or folded downwardly to cover the ears. The inband pattern has an upper edge that curves downwardly on each side of a center portion so that when it is sewn into the cap the end portions of the inband are stressed to bias them inwardly to hug the head and ears in use.
Troiano, U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,708 is a golf hat having a visor provided with a pair of blinders for the eyes of the wearer of the hat. The blinders are pivoted to the sides of the visor and locked in place upon the visor by Velcro pads when not in use, and pivoted downwardly towards the eyes of the wearer when in use. When in the non-use position, the blinders conform to the contour of the visor so that they are not readily noticeable.
Shorts, U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,259 relates to a neck covering protective garment that comes as a two piece garment for wearing around the head and neck. The rear piece covers the back of the neck from sunburn and is attached to the rear adjustment strap of a standard baseball cap. The rear piece is readily detachable from the baseball cap and uses an upper strap that goes around the bill of the cap and a second attaching portion for attaching the rear piece to the ball cap.
Schuessler, U.S. Pat. No. 2,878,479 is a visor-equipped cap, comprising a double-ply crown portion secured to a visor, a knitted swatch having an upper severed, substantially straight end extending between the plies of the crown and stitched thereto, said swatch having its lower portion provided centrally with a V-recess and with a point on each side of the recess, the forward edge of each point extending over the visor of the cap and being stitched between the crown plies thereabove, each of said points being located with respect to the sides of the cap to form ear-covering portions when the visor of the cap is positioned above a wearer's face, the portion of said swatch between the apex of said recess and the upper severed end being positioned between said plies.
Helge, U.S. Pat. No. 2,501,760 is a cap comprising a crown portion, a rim portion, a flap extending along and attached to the edge of said rim portion at the sides and the back thereof and shiftable from an upper position in engagement with said rim portion to a lower position in which the flap constitutes a downward extension of part of said rim portion and serves as an ear and neck protector, a spring member extending throughout the length of the flap and arranged to press the flap against the wearer's ears in the lower position of the flap, and fastenings for said spring member rotatably receiving the spring ends, said spring being of such form that the ends thereof may freely turn within the fastenings when changing the flap from one position to another.
The prior art teaches hats with various types of foldable flaps. However, the prior art does not teach that such a cap may be fitted so as to shade the forward portions of a face and that it may be adjusted fixedly for multiple adaptations. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.